Summer 2013/Fuller Online

YF506

Hodge

YF506: URBAN YOUTH CULTURE. Daniel White Hodge.

DESCRIPTION: This course is an in-depth examination of the unique and complex dynamics of urban youth culture in the United States, with a particular focus on the values, attitudes, norms and rituals of several subcultures found in urban contexts. The significant role of popular culture in shaping U.S. urban youth culture will also be explored, notably in regard to the entertainment industry. The emanative impact of U.S. urban youth culture on young people around the globe will also be considered, as well as globalization's impact on urban youth culture in the U.S. Global urban youth issues will also be discussed.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: Students will be introduced to ministry resources unique to urban practitioners and missionaries.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon successful completion of this course, students will have demonstrated (1) ability to understand and analyze the importance of being a student of culture—locally, nationally and globally—to understand both the subtle and not-so-subtle roles social systems and structures have in the lives of urban youth; (2) understanding of the influence of urban youth culture on youth living outside of cities to develop critical skills as interpreters of the messages and values communicated through the mediums of music and mass media; (3) understanding and analysis of some of the issues facing urban youth in other cities around the world; (4) familiarity with Hip Hop culture; (5) ability to evaluate an existing urban youth ministry for effectiveness.

COURSE FORMAT: This course will be conducted online, and each student is required to participate in online discussion groups, online class meetings, and to evaluate an existing youth ministry in their geographical context.

REQUIRED READING AND VIEWING:

Anderson, Elijah. Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City. W.W. Norton, 1999. ISBN: 978-0393320787, Pub. Price $17.95 [352 pp.].

Arzola, Fernando. Toward a Prophetic Youth Ministry: Theory and Praxis in the Urban Context. IVP Academic, 2008. ISBN: 978-0830828029, Pub. Price $18.00 [186 pp.].

Bradford, Brown B., Reed W. Larson, and T. S. Saraswathi, eds. The World’s Youth: Adolescence in Eight Regions of the Globe. Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN: 978-0521006057, Pub. Price $89.00 [382 pp.].

Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur. Basic Civitas, 2001. ISBN: 978-0465017287, Pub. Price $15.95 [300 pp.].

Hodge, Daniel White. The Soul of Hip Hop: Rims, Timbs & a Cultural Theology. InterVarsity Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0830837328, Pub. Price $17.00 [250 pp.].

Kitwana, Bakari. The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African-American Culture. Basic Civitas, 2002. ISBN: 978-0465029792, Pub. Price $14.95 [256 pp.].

Lee, Jennifer, and Min Zhou, eds. Asian American Youth: Culture, Identity and Ethnicity. Routledge, 2004. ISBN: 978-0415946698, Pub. Price $45.95 [376 pp.].

Seven films that fit course material: Menace II Society (1993), Tupac Resurrection (2003), 8-Mile (2003), Juvies (2004), Babel (2006), Precious (2009), and Thirteen (2003).